


You Promised Me

by SunflowerZombieMouse



Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)
Genre: Angst, Gen, Hurt No Comfort, Written before Season 2, but it's been long enough that i don't remember what that direction was, i still enjoyed writing it and hopefully you'll enjoy reading it, literally it's just adora having a nightmare, no beta we die like men ― unprepared and useless, originally i was gonna go somewhere else with this, so you get. this. thing, this is a Sad One ok, this is kind of a mess but you know what oh well
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-16
Updated: 2019-05-16
Packaged: 2020-03-06 10:34:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 952
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18849295
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SunflowerZombieMouse/pseuds/SunflowerZombieMouse
Summary: “You promised me, Adora,” she said, her voice distorted. It sounded like the Catra now and Catra from when they were children in the Horde. “You promised me that everything would be ok as long as we stuck together. Just us against everybody else, y’know that? It was a promise. Both of us. It didn’t ever matter what came at us, because we’d always have each other’s backs.” The nails dug into Adora's skin, and she flinched. “But then you left me.”





	You Promised Me

**Author's Note:**

> so i still haven't seen S2, and i'm not sure that i will anytime in the near future. maybe sometime far off, but for now . . . eh. *shrugs*  
> like i said in the tags, when i first started i had a plan for adora and catra to meet up outside of a nightmare (or at least something along those lines), but honestly this has been sitting there for long enough that i lost all oomph for it. so. here you go; pure angst.

Adora was in the Whispering Woods. It was night and nearly pitch-black ― the only light came from blade of her sword. She shivered; she was wearing the night clothes Glimmer had given her, and they weren’t nearly warm enough to be out in the middle of night when it was coldest.  
    “Hello?” She called. _Those are trees,_ she told herself as she flinched away from yet another ominous silhouette. “Glimmer? Bow? Anyone there?” _Just trees, Adora._ She sighed and rubbed at her arm. “Where _is_ everyone?” She muttered. She didn’t expect an answer, but she could’ve sworn she heard someone whisper _Not there, dummy._ She whirled, holding the sword high. “Hello?” Just darkness and vaguely threatening shadows. A horrible thought occurred to her. “Shadow Weaver?” She held the sword higher. “If that’s you, come out of hiding! I’m not afraid of you anymore.” Nothing happened, but she still felt wary. “For the honor of Greyskull,” she murmured. She always forgot she glowed right after transforming; it was really disconcerting.  
    Still, even with the added light of She-Ra, she couldn’t see anything beyond just foresty stuff. “I know you’re there, Shadow Weaver,” she muttered.  
    Something ― some _one_ ― giggled, low and terribly familiar. Adora froze. _I know that voice._ “Catra?” She whispered, lowering the sword. Catra giggled again, somewhere far off. “Catra! Where are you?” Catra screamed. Adora took off running, yelling her name. The scream tapered off, trailed into hiccuping sobs. The ground around Adora started turning red, crystals popping up here and there. The trees, bushes, and rocks were disappearing, replaced by chunks of red and black stones. Ahead of her was a building-sized stone, shifting between red and black. It reminded her uncomfortably of the Black Garnet.  
    _“Adora . . .”_  
    “Catra!” Adora rushed around the stone, ignoring that Catra suddenly sounded much too young. “Catra, what happened? Are you ok?”  
    Catra was stuck inside the stone, her metal headband off-kilter and one of her arms hanging down limply. Her eyes were closed. She looked like she’d been beaten, badly. Blood slowly dripped from a thin cut on her cheek. The stone around her glowed brighter, a sickly grey-white that made Adora feel nauseated just looking at it. Catra’s fingers twitched. “Catra,” Adora said, feeling choked. She dropped the sword to cup Catra’s face in her hands. “Catra, what happened to you? Wake up, please, _answer_ me!”  
    Catra’s free arm whipped up to grab at Adora’s wrist. Her eyes snapped open, but they weren’t her eyes ― they were pitch black, leaking black ooze out of the corners like tears. “You promised me, Adora,” she said, her voice distorted. It sounded like the Catra now and Catra from when they were children in the Horde. “You promised me that everything would be ok as long as we stuck together. Just us against everybody else, y’know that?” The hand wrapped around her wrist relaxed, caressed the back of her hand. “It was a promise. Both of us. It didn’t ever matter what came at us, because we’d always have each other’s backs.” The nails dug into Adora's skin, and she flinched. “But then you left me.”  
    “I didn’t,” Adora gasped, a tear running down her cheek. “I didn’t, I _swear_ I didn’t ― Catra, please!”  
    “I was all alone,” Catra said, still in that double voice. She stared straight at Adora the whole time she was talking. “You weren’t there to say ‘stop it, Shadow Weaver.’ You couldn’t ― couldn’t ― couldn’t ― why?”  
    “What?” Catra’s hand was around her wrist again, gripping so hard her fingers were going white. “I don’t understand.”  
    “Why did you leave me?” Catra whispered. “How? How could you just _leave_ me like that?” Adora opened her mouth to say something, but Catra kept going. “Do you know what Shadow Weaver did to me? All those times we got caught playing where we weren’t supposed to, when I didn’t snap to attention fast enough for her?” Her tone was perfectly conversational, like they were talking about training. She finally looked away from Adora’s face. “When you snuck away on that little trip of yours that got us into this whole mess?” She stilled for a heartbeat. Two.  
    “Catra?” Adora whispered.  
    _“She beat me!”_ Catra snarled. “She told me I was _useless, weak, unwanted, pitiful, a waste of space!_ The only reason I could stay was because of Adora, sweet Adora, good Adora, perfect obedient oblivious _Force Captain_ **Adora** ― and then you _left me_ to go satisfy your stupid hero complex? How could you do that to me? I thought we were friends!”      
    “We were,” Adora tried, her vision blurring with tears. “We _are._ Catra―”  
    “Really?” Catra sounded like she was sneering. “What kind of friends, Adora? The kind that leaves each other to rot in the dust? Because that’s what you did. You left Entrapta behind, too, for all that you want so _desperately_ to be the hero. She’s gone. I’m gone. Would a friend do that?” Adora, wide-eyed, didn’t have an answer. The black in Catra’s eyes oozed out completely, leaving only the child she used to be. “If we’re friends,” she whispered, crying real tears now, “why didn’t you save me like you promised?”  
    The world went black with Catra’s tiny hand slipping out of her reach.  
    Adora wakes up with a gasp. She’s in her room, with Glimmer and Bow sleeping next to her. It’s still dark outside. _It was a dream,_ she tells herself, but she doesn’t feel much better.  
    “It was only a dream,” she murmurs out loud. Glimmer makes a sleepy, confused noise, and Bow snorts. Adora sighs and rolls over. When she finally goes back to sleep, it’s with Catra’s voice ringing in her ears.  
    _You promised me._

**Author's Note:**

> catra makes me so sad, ok. i know she's not "i am a sad puffball, wah :(", not at all, but she still makes me really sad.  
> actually, come to think of it, that might be why i'm not watching the second season. i'm. really kinda not prepared to see catra again.


End file.
